A New Supercomputer Enters the Game
France is getting its first exascale supercomputer and it is not powered by Nvidia. Instead, AMD is taking center stage with a monster machine called Alice Recoque, named after a pioneering French computer scientist who passed away in 2021.
This new system is being built in partnership between AMD and Eviden, a company that specializes in high performance computing platforms. Together they are creating what they are calling an AI factory, designed to push scientific research, climate modeling, medical simulations, and next generation European AI models.
Alice Recoque will be Europes second exascale class supercomputer and the first one based in France. Exascale simply means the system can handle at least one exaflop of computing performance. In other words, it can perform more than a billion billion calculations per second. It is the kind of performance that makes even a high end gaming PC look like a pocket calculator.
To prove this performance, the system is targeting more than one exaflop of HPL performance. HPL stands for High Performance Linpack, a benchmark that supercomputers use to measure how fast they can solve a massive system of equations using double precision math across many interconnected nodes. Think of it as the top speed test for the biggest machines on the planet.
What Is Inside Alice Recoque
If you are into hardware, this build is pretty interesting. Instead of using the Nvidia accelerators that dominate many AI data centers right now, France is betting big on AMD.
The supercomputer will use next generation AMD EPYC CPUs, codenamed Venice. These chips will handle general purpose computing tasks and coordinate work across the system. Alongside them are AMD Instinct MI430X GPUs from the MI400 series. These accelerators are designed specifically for heavy AI and high performance computing workloads.
Eviden provides the glue that connects everything together through its BullSequana XH3500 platform. This is the high speed networking and system architecture that links thousands of CPUs and GPUs into one massive cluster so that they can operate as a single machine.
Together, this mix of CPUs, GPUs, and networking is what allows the system to hit exascale performance. In day to day terms, that kind of power unlocks simulations and models that would be completely impossible on normal servers or workstations.
Here is what makes Alice Recoque stand out:
- Powered by next generation AMD EPYC Venice CPUs
- Accelerated by AMD Instinct MI430X GPUs, part of the MI400 AI focused series
- Built on Evidens BullSequana XH3500 platform for high speed interconnects
- Designed as an AI factory, tuned for scientific AI and simulation workloads
- Targeting more than one exaflop in the HPL benchmark
While we will not see it running games any time soon, it is interesting to see the same company that makes Ryzen gaming CPUs also powering one of the most powerful machines in Europe.
Why This Supercomputer Matters
Alice Recoque is not just about bragging rights. There is a lot of money and politics behind this project.
The system is expected to cost around 544 million euro. Funding comes from multiple sources, including the Digital Europe Programme and the Jules Verne Consortium. That consortium pools partners from France, the Netherlands, and Greece, making this a big European effort rather than a purely French one.
So what do you actually do with all those exaflops
- Climate modeling Run ultra detailed simulations of weather patterns and long term climate change to improve predictions and policy planning.
- New materials and energy research Test and design advanced materials and energy systems in a virtual environment before building them in the real world.
- Digital twins for medicine Create digital copies of organs or even whole patients to test treatments and personalize medicine.
- Next generation European AI models Train large AI systems on European infrastructure and data instead of relying only on systems run by US tech giants.
A big part of the motivation here is sovereignty. European leaders want to make sure they are not completely dependent on US companies for the most important AI and computing infrastructure. Building a flagship AMD powered exascale system on European soil is a very clear way to stake that claim.
At the same time there is an open question hanging over all of this. Some tech leaders, including Googles CEO Sundar Pichai, have warned that if there is an AI bubble and it bursts, no company will be safe. If that kind of correction happens, the way we think about huge AI focused investments like this could shift significantly.
For now though, Alice Recoque represents a big move in the global high performance computing game. Nvidia might still dominate AI GPUs, but this project shows that AMD is very much in play at the top end of the market, and that Europe is serious about building its own AI and supercomputing backbone.
If you like following cutting edge hardware, keep an eye on this one. Once it is fully built and benchmarked, Alice Recoque will likely land near the top of the global Top500 supercomputer rankings and help decide how the next wave of AI and scientific breakthroughs are powered.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/amd-is-the-hardware-of-choice-for-frances-first-ai-factory-supercomputer/
